Warren Dew wrote:klr wrote:Anyway, the ban on Nazi swastikas in aircraft kits also affect the Finns.
There's a ban on swastikas in aircraft kits?
Yes, in the European Union at least, and probably elsewhere as well. Airbrushed out of history for 30 years or more - not depicted on the artwork, and the instructions don't alert you to the fact that they should be present (some used to do this in the long distance past). Some kit manufacturers will try to get around this by breaking each swastika into two separate decals, but I imagine if the authorities were really strict, they'd crack down on this as well.
About the only manufacturer I've seen that openly includes them is Tamiya from Japan. I'd love to know what happens when Tamiya kits reach Germany, which is where the law originates.
Oddly enough, there's nothing to stop you buying specialised decal sheets containing hundreds of
Luftwaffe swastikas in all shapes and sizes, which is what I've done. You'd have thought that was the one thing above all else that would be
verboten - maybe it is in Germany.
The Finnish swastika has become guilty by association from what I can see, and it's now very rare to find it in in a kit. Since the Finns used it as the main insignia (as opposed to just on the tail with the Germans), this really hampers kit manufacturers. A new Airfix kit of the Gloster Gladiator bi-plane includes a ski-equipped version that the Finns used. But since that had the Finnish swastika, it was obviously off limits. It would probably have been OK in a number of countries, but the Germans would have said "nein". So Airfix did the next best thing, and depicted a Swedish volunteer unit that fought with the Finns.
God has no place within these walls, just like facts have no place within organized religion. - Superintendent Chalmers
It's not up to us to choose which laws we want to obey. If it were, I'd kill everyone who looked at me cock-eyed! - Rex Banner
The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression. - Gary Larson
